Restraining devices



Sept. 3, 1968 J. K. VEASEY RESTRAINING DEVICES 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 FiledFeb. 9, 1966 Sept. 3, 1968 J. K. VEASEY RESTRAINING DEVICES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9, 1966 United States Patent 3,399,670RESTRAINING DEVICES Joseph K. Veasey, 15 E. Atlantic Blvd., Ocean City,NJ. 08226 Filed Feb. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 526,187 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-434)This invention relates to improvements in human restraining devices andhas for its principal purpose that of making available to lawenforcement officials, prison and asylum guards, hospital orderlies,etc. a simple yet effective device for restraining and bringing undercontrol with a minimum of effort a person who may need to be arrested,con-trolled and/or bodily restrained, either in the interest of thepublic safety or his or her own good, and with the possibility of saidperson being harmed as a consequence of being restrained and/orcontrolled reduced to a minimum.

Recent studies have established that in general police are still usingthe same basic tools-pistol, handcuffs and night sticks which they haveused for many years not only in apprehending individual criminals orother persons disturbing the peace, but also in combatting mass violenceoccurring in street demonstrations, in beach riots, in prison uprisings,and the like. It is an important object of this invention to providepolice with yet another tool in the form of a body and arm restrainingdevice constructed and arranged so as to be quickly and readily appliedto the criminal to be apprehended and/or individually to unruly personsto be controlled by operatives equipped with same and which when soapplied effectively immobilizes and renders the subject harmless to afar greater extent than do conventional handcuffs.

A more particular object of the invention is the provision of awrap-around type of human restraining device for use by police or otherofficials charged with the duty of maintaining the peace and/ or ofapprehending a criminal and/ or of processing a person from doing bodilyharm to himself or others about him, Le, a violently insane person,which is capable of being readily applied and thereupon quicklytightened about the torso and arms of said person by a simplemanipulation of cooperating means provided at the ends of the device andwhich also assist in the process of Wrapping said restraining device onsaid person.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedhuman restraining device adapted to be wrapped about the torso and armsof a criminal or unruly person to be apprehended or controlled and whichis effectively self-locking when its ends are brought together.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a humanrestraining device of the type adapted to be quickly wrapped andtightened about the torso and arms of a criminal to be apprehended orunruly person to be controlled in manner as to effectively immobilizethe upper part of his body, characterized in that the ends of the deviceare provided with means adapted to self-lock to one another on contact,and/ or with additional strap means for effecting a more positivesecurement of said ends.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a restrainingdevice as characterized in the foregoing and which is also adapted inemergency of being used as a partial litter capable of assisting incarrying an injured person to an ambulance, for example.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a restrainingdevice which makes it relatively easy and safe to handcuff a criminal orunruly person.

The above and other obpects of a human restraining device as hereinproposed will appear from the following detailed description andaccompanying illustrative drawings, wherein- FIG. 1 is a broken-awayelevation of the device of the invention as viewed from its outer sideor face;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the device as seen from its inner side orface;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a human restraining device as hereinproposed, shown in ready-to-apply state;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of closing andthereupon effecting a quick tightening of said restraining device abouta criminal or other person to be apprehended or controlled; and

FIG. 5A and 5B are diagrammatic views illustrating the functioning ofthe end portions of a device of the invention when initially broughttogether and thereafter tightened on a person encased by said device.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, a human restraining deviceaccording to the present invention basically comprises an elongatedsheet-form body member 10 of length which may vary but which is such asto enable it to be Wrapped fully about the torso and arms of a person tobe restrained, with some excess as adapts it for use on persons ofdifferent size and age groups, and of height which again may vary butwhich is generally such that it will extend from the hip to the shoulderlines of said person, and two rigid, vertically disposed and rod-formmembers 12 and 14, hereinafter referred to as dowels, affixed to theopposite end portions of said member and which are adapted, when broughttogether and turned bodily about a vertical axis extending generallybetween them, to effect a fast rolling up of said end portions on oneanother, as effects tightening and securement of the body member aboutthe torso and arms of said person about whom said body member has beenWrapped as aforesaid.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4 inclusive, the aforesaid opposite end portions ofthe body member 10 are provided with centrally disposed cut-outs at 16,18 which open through their vertical end edges, across the open ends ofwhich the dowels 12 and 14 extend. FIG. 4 in particular illustrates thepurpose of said cut-outs, which is to provide hand holes giving directaccess to the middle-length portions of the dowels to the policeofficials or other operatives of the device called upon to apply andtighten same about a person to be restrained and/ or in holding saidperson restrained. Although not necessary to the aims and purposes ofthe invention, the edges of the cut-outs are strengthened and protectedagainst fraying or damage by edge bindings designated 16a, 18a.

Illustratively, the opposite end portions of the body member are foldedon themselves so as to provide dowelreceiving end loops designated 20a,20b and 22a, 22b. To maintain the dowels fixed against separation fromor turning movement within their respective end loops, they are securedas by bedding them in adhesive applied to the interior surface of theloops, or by mechanical securing means such as tacks or rivets.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the central length portion of the bodymember 10, which in normal use of the device is disposed against thechest and stomach of the person to be restrained, may be stiffened as bymeans of a plurality (three being shown) of rigid stays 26 roughlycomparing to corset stays. Illustratively, the stays are secured inplace by inserting their end portions in vertically aligned pockets 26a,26b provided therefor by infolding the upper and lower edge portions ofthe body member 10 against the inside face thereof, such assuming thatthe sheet of material from which said body member is fashioned initiallyhas length as to provide for such in-folding, and delineating saidpockets by U-shaped lines of stitching designated 28, or alternately byrivets or grommets (not shown). Preferably also, said infolded edgeportions are secured along their free edges by upper and lower lines ofstitching 30a, 30!) extending between stay-receiving pockets and fromthe endmost pockets to the cut-outs 16, 18 in the end portions of thebody member.

Said body member 10 may be fabricated from any suitable strong andpliable woven textile material such as a good grade of canvas or fromequivalent woven plastic material, or from a pliable plastic sheetmaterial such as Saran, or from leather or so-called leatherette. Thedowels 12 and 14 preferably but not necessarily have round section andthey may be made from any suitable rigid material such as wood or alightweight metal such as aluminum. Finally, the stays 24 may be made ofhardwood approximately A in thickness, or of steel, aluminum or rigidplastic material.

A restraining device as so far described may be used in apprehending acriminal or other person required to be apprehended, controlled orrestrained by wrapping the device about his torso and arms in mannersuch that its opposite end portions carrying the dowels 12, 14 arebrought together at said persons back in the edge-overlappingrelationship shown diagrammatically in FIG. A. Thereupon, the dowels,held as in FIG. 4, are turned bodily about a vertical axis disposedroughly between their own axes to relative position shown in FIG. 513,as results in the opposite end portions of the body member being quicklyrolled on each other as effects a fast and forceful tightening of thebody member about the person to whom the device is applied. Assumingthat the persons arms were initially encased within the device as it wasapplied, tightening of the device by the aforesaid manipulation of thedowels 12, 14 not only effects immobilization of his arms by holdingthem tight against his body, as in FIG. 4, but also the persons legmovements can be controlled to a degree by pushing him forwardly orsidewardly and/or pulling him rearwardly through force applied manuallythrough the dowels.

According to a further feature of the invention, means are provided foreffecting self-locking of the dowelcarrying end portions of the bodymember one to the other, responsive to said end portions contacting oneanother. More particularly, the opposite end portions of the body member10 have afiixed thereto comple mentary strips of Velcro, such being aform of fastener manufactured by Velcro Corporation, New York, N.Y.,comprising tapes of nylon adapted to be superimposed one on the other,one tape being faced with tiny loops forming a pile surface and theother being faced with tiny hooks, which tapes lock securely to oneanother when the pile and hook surfaces are pressed together. Thus,according to the present invention, one end portion of the body member10, illustratively the right-end portion, carries a plurality (four byway of example) of tapes 30 of Velcro pile, of length as to extend aboutthe dowel-receiving end loops a, 20b provided on that end portion andthence an appreciable distance over onto both inner and outer faces ofsaid body mmeber. Said tapes of Velcro pile are shown to be secured tothe body member end loops by lines of stitching 32 extending along alledges thereof, but they may be otherwise appropriately secured.Similarly, the opposite or left-end portion of the body member 10carries a corresponding number fo Velcro hook tapes 34 which extendabout the end loops 22a, 22b formed on that end of said body member andthence onto both faces of said body member, said hook tapes 34 beingsecured in horizontal alignment with the pile tapes by lines ofstitching 36 extending along all edges of said tapes.

The aforesaid arrangement of dowels 12;, 14 and Velcro fastener tapesprovides that upon the end portions of the body member 10 being engagedone with the other by bringing the dowels into close parallelrelationship, the Velcro pile and hooktapes 30, 34 will interlock oncontact. This interlocking of the end portions of the body member 10 isof particular advantage also in that it prevents any slippage betweenthe end portions of the body member as the dowels are turned to tightensaid body member about the person to be apprehended or restrained, inthe manner shown in FIG. 4.

While the dowels 12, 14 and the complementary Velcro pile and hook tapes30, 34, acting both individually and in concert, provide means foreffecting a speedy and semipositive securement of the end portions ofthe body member when the latter has been tightened on the person to berestrained, the invention provides additional means designed to effect amore positive securement of the device in its tightened state as permitsthe operatives who have applied and tightened same to reduce handpressure on the dowels to that required to hold the restrained personcaptive, i.e., to use the dowels as a handle. Illustratively, suchadditional means comprises a pair of elongated straps 40, 42 disposedone above the other and secured at their corresponding fixed ends to theend portion of the body member 10 which carries the aforesaid Velcropile tapes, at locations thereof disposed relatively forwardly of saidtapes. The free ends of said straps are adapted to be passed through apair of strap eyes 44, 46 secured to the opposite end portion of thebody member at locations which are horizontally aligned with thelocations of securement of said straps and forwardly of the Velco hooktapes 34.

After said free ends of the straps are passed through the eyes 44, 46,they are adapted to be doubled back to positions in which they overlietheir fixed end portions. Secured to the relatively outer faces of saidstraps 40, 42 is a so-called Velcro strap combination comprising anelongate strip of Velcro pile tape 48 and connected in tandem thereto asimilarly elongated strip of Velcro hook tape 50, said pile and hooktapes 48, 50 being secured to the straps along corresponding edges bylines of stitching 52, 54.

By such arrangement, the free ends of the straps 40, 42 carrying thehook tapes 50, after having been passed through the eyes 44, 46 anddoubled back on and pressed against the underlying fixed end portions ofsaid straps which carry the pile tapes 46, are adapted to self-lock tosaid underlying end portions. Accordingly, after the body member 10 hasbeen applied and tightened on a subject by manipulation of the dowels12, 14 as aforesaid, the straps 40, 42 may be quickly threaded throughthe eyes 44, 46 and thereupon self-locked to their secured end portions.When this latter positive securement has been achieved, the dowels maybe used as a handle for holding on to and controlling the encasedperson.

As a supplementary feature to the strap form of securement as above, thebody member 10 may be provided on its outer face with a plurality ofadditional strap eyes 56, 58 disposed forwardly of the secured ends ofsaid straps. These latter eyes serve the useful purpose of holding anyfree-end length portions of the straps 40, 42 which extend forwardlypast the secured ends thereof.

Without further analysis, it will be appreciated that a restrainingdevice as described and illustrated achieves the objectives of theinvention as set forth in the foregoing in effective yet thoroughlypractical manner. That is to say, it provides a means which may bereadily wrapped as an encasement about and tightened on a criminal orother unruly person requiring restraint and, once applied, it functionsto completely immobilize the persons arm and body from hips to shouldersin a much more effective manner than do handcuffs, for example. As willbe appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 4, the herein restrainingdevice may be also used as to exercise substantial control over therestrained persons leg movements.

The restraining device of the invention may also be employed as an aidin applying handcuffs to a person to be apprehended by first applyingand tightening same about said person in manner as to immobilize hisarms and then forcefully bringing his hands together along the bottomedge of the device to a position in which the handcuffs may now readilybe applied. With his arms immobilized, there is no possibility of saidperson using a partially applied or even fully applied handcufi as aweapon. Finally, under emergency conditions requiring such use, thedevice of the invention, when wrapped about a wounded or injured personin position such that the dowels 12, 14 are disposed forwardly ratherthan rearwardly of said person, may also be used as a partial litter forcarrying said person to a waiting ambulance, for example.

When not in use, the restraining device of the invention may be rolledon itself from end to end and, when so rolled, takes up relativelylittle space. Hence a number of the devices may be carried about in thetrunk or other appropriate location of a police scout car, or in a caseor cabinet of a guard room, for example, for distribution as needed.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructionswithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. A restraining device of the character described comprising anelongated, generally rectangular body member of pliable sheet materialhaving length adapting it to be applied as a wrap about the body andarms of a person to be restrained and to provide a small amount ofoverlap of its opposite end portions, and of height as to extendapproximately between the hip and shoulder lines of said person,complemental quick-attachable means on said opposite end portions, andvertically disposed rigid means, one affixed to one said end portion andthe other to the other said end portion, for effecting quick roll-up ofsaid end portions one on the other whereby to achieve a fast tighteningof the body member about said person.

2. A restraining device according to claim 1, wherein said rigid meanscomprise n'gid dowels aflixed to and extending vertically along the endedges of said end portions and adapted when brought together to beturned in unison about a vertical axis as effects a rolling up of saidend portions on said dowels.

3. A restraining device according to claim 2, wherein the end portionsof said body member are provided with cutouts opening through thevertical end edges thereof and across which said dowels extend, saidcut-outs forming hand holes providing direct access to the dowelsenabling same to be grasped in their middle-length portions and to bebodily turned about said vertical axis as aforesaid.

4. A restraining device according to claim 1, wherein saidquick-attachable means comprises fastener tapes of a type adapted tointerlock with one another when said end portions are brought togetherand the tapes pressed on one another during the course of said endportions being rolled on one another.

5. A restraining device according to claim 4, wherein said tapes arefashioned from Velcro pile and hook tapes.

6. A restraining device according to claim 1, wherein one end portion ofthe body member has secured to its relatively outer face at a pointspaced relatively forwardly from its corresponding end edge at least onestrap means of substantial length, and the oppoiste end portion of saidbody member mounts an eye through which the free end of said strap meansis adapted to be threaded, said strap means being exteriorly faced withstrips of complementary Velcro fastening tapes arranged in end-to-endrelation, the construction and arrangement being such that upontightening ofthe body portion about the person to be restrained havingbeen effected by said roll-up means, said strap means may be threadedthrough said eye and doubled back on itself as effects locking of saidcomplementary tapes one with the other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,564 4/1954 Hughes 5-822,815,752 12/1957 Forman 128-170 3,236,234 2/1966 Buckley 128-l34 ADELEM. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

1. A RESTRAINING DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING ANELONGATED, GENERALLY RECTANGULAR BODY MEMBER OF PLIABLE SHEET MATERIALHAVING LENGTH ADAPTING IT TO BE APPLIED AS A WRAP ABOUT THE BODY ANDARMS OF A PERSON TO BE RESTRAINED AND TO PROVIDE A SMALL AMOUNT OFOVERLAP OF ITS OPPOSITE END PORTIONS, AND OF HEIGHT A TO EXTENDAPPROXIMATELY BETWEEN THE HIP AND SHOULDER LINES OF SAID PERSON,COMPLEMENTAL QUICK-ATTACHABLE MEANS ON SAID OPPOSITE END PORTIONS, ANDVERTICALLY DISPOSED RIGID MEANS, ON AFFIXED TO ONE SAID END PORTION ANDTHE OTHER TO THE OTHER SAID END PORTION, FOR EFFECTING QUICK ROLL-UP OFSAID END PORTIONS ONE ON THE OTHER WHEREBY TO ACHIEVE A FAST TIGHTENINGOF THE BODY MEMBER ABOUT SAID PERSON.